


moats and boats and waterfalls

by theredvipers



Category: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Danny doesn't bother correct them, M/M, or: people keep thinking Linus is Danny and Rusty's kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 11:51:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18940363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theredvipers/pseuds/theredvipers
Summary: “Oh, yeah, I remember you. Danny and Rusty’s kid, right?” she had asked.Linus paused. “Excuse me?”





	moats and boats and waterfalls

**Author's Note:**

> something that has been on my mind for a while. it's small but that's how it is sometimes.

The first time it happened, Linus had been able to pass it off as a simple mistake. He did spend a lot of time with Danny and Rusty, after all. His major jobs had been with them at his side, and although reluctantly, they had taught him some tricks, showed him the ropes for when he was ready to pull jobs on his own. He couldn’t stand them–which, okay, maybe was an exaggeration–but he owed them, and was grateful to them.

But it still caught him off guard when he was asked about it. 

Basher had talked him into helping him rob some jewelry store. It was low profile, and quick, but they still needed to assemble a team. Danny and Rusty were not retired, but they spent their time travelling, and the last Linus had heard of them, they were somewhere in Europe. The other guys were also all busy as well, so they’d had to assemble a completely new team, going with recommendations from everyone who was someone in their business.

One of them shook Linus’ hand, when Basher introduced him as Linus Caldwell. She stopped to look at him, perhaps thinking she’d seen him before, and said, “Oh, yeah, I remember you. Danny and Rusty’s kid, right?” she had asked.

Basher laughed so hard there were tears in his eyes. Linus paused, “Excuse me?”

“Well, I’d heard they’d finally formalized–” she waved a hand in the air. What Danny and Rusty had didn’t have a name, but it didn’t have to, and everyone knew that it had always been Danny-and-Rusty, even before they knew themselves. “–and I’d also heard they’d taken in a kid.”

Linus was at a loss for words–something you got used to when you hung around Danny and Rusty long enough, but it still caught him off guard. “Um. I have parents. And they are not Danny and Rusty.” 

She shrugged, unapologetic. “That’s what I heard, kid.” then she seemed to think on it a bit more. “But it is weird that you wouldn’t go by Ocean-Ryan. Ryan-Ocean?”

Basher was still laughing, and when the job was over, he made sure to tell Danny and Rusty about it.

Rusty was the one who answered the phone, and when he started laughing, so did Danny, and so did Basher. Linus hung up on them out of spite.

“You have to admit it  _ is _ funny,” Basher said. “It’s just–it’s a whole thing.”

“Well, it’s not that funny,” Linus replied. “I’m not a kid anymore.”

Rusty called back, and he sounded more serious now. “Actually, I think I know why Linus got asked about it,” he said. “Someone else asked Danny if the Caldwell kid was his, and he–”

“I have my own parents, Ocean!” Linus screamed into the phone. It was easy to take it out of Basher’s grasp, because he was laughing hard again. “Also, that makes no sense. My last name is Caldwell.”

“The number of people who just assume you’re Danny’s kid, or my kid, or  _ our  _ kid–it would surprise you.” Rusty explained. Linus could still hear Danny laughing in the background.

“I’m a grown ass man!” Linus said, and hung up on them again. 

-

It kept happening. Linus knew that all these people knew who his parents had been, but everyone else–meaning the crew from the Bellagio job–found it hilarious. 

It was just Linus’ luck that it happened in front of Rusty.

“Oh, your kid, right, Rusty?” asked one of Danny’s acquaintances. They’d just been walking from a restaurant to their hotel, when Rusty had spotted a man–he’d helped Danny out before, so Rusty greeted him. 

Rusty laughed, but he still said, “Nah, man. Bobby’s.”

The man looked at Linus’ face. “I think it’s great that you guys decided to adopt.”

“I’m an adult,” Linus said. “And my parents are still alive.”

“He gets that from Danny,” Rusty joked. He and the man laughed. 

-

“Can you stop telling people I’m your kid?” Linus said as soon as Danny answered the phone. 

“Listen, kid–”

“I’m not a kid, let’s start there.”

“It’s just easier to say yes than to explain that you once accidentally called me dad, and then I have to go into the whole inside joke thing–”

“It was  _ one _ time!” Linus said, and he hung up. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
